The Name Game
by Somei Yoshino
Summary: A long turbo lift with the lovely effects of alcohol. Add in a dash of longing and a whole lot of anger. Here you go!


*Somewhat updated version of an old story* Paramount owns all.

The Name Game

Things had gone well. She had brought the croutons for his salad and now things were at peace. They had been polite. He had been attentive, she had been courteous, and they had both been a bit charming.

Now standing in the lift with her newly _redeemed _first officer, Kathryn was overcome with the need to roll her eyes. Oh hell… what a farce. Away from the crew and a tad intoxicated thanks to Mr. Paris, she slowly began to unfold (not into a beautiful bloom) but rather: a bristling, tense, pissed off Captain. Everything was swimming around in her gut. _The nerve of him! Careful Kathryn… you have to let it go_.

Chakotay was desperately trying to ignore her. Generally in tune with her body language, it was screaming at him right now. He needed to get out of this lift. But a small part of him was also acknowledging that he wanted to throttle her.

Did she think it had been easy for him tonight? Accepting her crumbs of appeasement (sorry, I mean croutons)… She had relieved him of duty! Confined him to quarters! And all because he had saved her. She should have been sitting across from him, softly apologizing with her chin resting on her hands and her face open.

But no! When he had asked her what had happened to her she shot back that she wanted to know the same thing about him. It had reeked of a similar taunt that still haunted him: _"then I guess I am alone after all"_ He snorted.

"Commander?"

He tensed: "Nothing Captain".

He felt the heat of her most likely hostile gaze and his stomach dropped as she ordered the lift to halt and turned to face him. He didn't want to turn and face her, he was damn tired. Too tired to play games with her.

And still she stared.

He snapped his neck to the left and allowed his own exasperation to shine through his eyes then sighed:

"Kathryn… I don't want to get into it with you right now. I'm a little too emotionally raw at the moment alright." And with that he faced front again.

"Oh really?" She replied coyly.

He snorted again. _Figures_. And thanks to the liquid courage of Paris's punch, he made the fatal error of turning to face her, finding her somewhat mocking gaze, and opening his mouth:

"How about this? I don't have the energy to fend off another round of emotional manipulation, but give me a good night's sleep and we can have business as usual in the morning."

Kathryn was overwhelmed with the desire to slap him. She was so sick of always carrying the title for manipulation, while her oh so spiritual and peaceful first officer was simply a victim and above such petty games. Hardly.

"I agree completely Commander. I'm sure after you've rested you'll be fit for duty and your own subtle games of manipulation."

"Excuse me?!" He roared.

Kathryn was glad she got his attention.

"Yes Chakotay. I think you might want to put more effort into a new format as well, I'm getting a little tired of the name game myself."

She knew how childish she sounded at that moment, but it felt damn good too.

"Captain, I have no idea what you're talking about."

He looked completely incredulous and she loved it. She turned away from him.

"Alright, examine this most recent example: _Captain_, _Ma'am_, oh and let's not forget the carefully placed _Kathryn_! But really Commander, I'm amazed at your ability to either delude yourself into believing you don't attempt to manipulate my emotions with the manner you address me in. Or are you practicing your poker face at the moment?"

The air was thick, neither of them moved, and the silence stretched on until Janeway turned back to watch him.

He stood there, facing her completely now, a muscle in his cheek twitching, nostrils flaring slightly, and fists clenched.

Janeway suddenly felt the buzzing of her blood, no doubt in actuality the alcohol in her system, but nonetheless at that moment everything was falling away: ranks, protocol, professionalism, the ever present rationalism of their precarious situation, and the need to maintain harmony with the ship's first officer… To hell with it all!

Stepping directly up to his chest, almost touching, she slowly reached her hand out to him, and as the tips of her fingers brushed his chest, she suddenly pushed.

Chakotay, from shock rather than force, rocked back on his heels, back coming to rest on the wall. His eyes widened at this new form of touch from the Captain. She kept her hand there, just grazing him, and lifted her chin another notch.

"Let me assure you _Chakotay…_ I am sick and tired of a lot of things in this damn quadrant, particularly your strategic use of names for me. So let's settle this once and for all—it's CAPTAIN to you…_Commander. _Is that clear?"

It was Chakotay's turn to feel pulsating rage run through his body like a live wire. He grasped her by her upper arms, almost lifting her from the ground and growled:

"Damnit Kathryn!"

Too far gone to express his emotions at that moment verbally, Chakotay continued to clench her arms, squeezing and lifting her at the same time, while breathing down heavily upon her.

Kathryn didn't feel fear, regret, or even take notice of all the improprieties of this moment. Instead, she upped the ante and chose a much more childish approach and softly drawled:

"It's Captain, Commander…"

Chakotay yanked her against his chest and then quickly thrust her away from him, turning to face the wall. He appeared to be taking a few deep breaths but then suddenly he slammed his fist into the turbo lift.

Finally, Kathryn jumped. Unfortunately, Voyager's Captain, the diplomat, the woman who had kept her emotions tightly reined for the majority of the last five years, was not in this turbo lift. Stripped by Ransom, by the alien attacks, by the overwhelming disappointment of being alone again, and by her first officer's most recent lapse in support—only Kathryn was left, an emotional and intoxicated woman, in that lift. She was hurt and she _needed_ to hurt back.

"Or should I say _Angry Warrior_?"

Everything froze, perhaps even time. Then suddenly he spun around, grabbed her by the arms again and propelled her into the opposite wall. Hard.

Chakotay didn't register the fairly moderate _thump_, or the feel of her breath on his neck as it rushed from her lungs when his chest pinned her to the spot. Fixated on her flashing eyes and flushed face he tried to comprehend what was happening, how he ended up in this lift being taunted by her like this.

"How can you!? How dare you! You insufferable brat! You're the most infuriating woman in in…"

He couldn't even complete a sentence. His mounting rage was simultaneously giving way to acknowledgement of their proximity, the heavy pulse of his blood, and the combination of fury and naked longing on her face.

In one moment: Chakotay's hands slid fluidly up Kathryn's arms to her shoulders, to her face, feeling the heat as he grasped her cheeks and tilted up; and Kathryn reached both hands up and clenched her fingers in his jacket just below his collar bones.

Feeling an alien calm that can only come from such a surreal moment, Kathryn slowly raised herself up while staring into his eyes steadily—her intent clear.

Chakotay released his breath heavily and it in a hitched groan at the end. His features were pulled in a horrible grimace of defeat and delirium as his eyes darted back and forth across her own.

And then he kissed her. Perhaps it was anger that caused him to cross this line in a manner he had barely allowed himself to fantasize about, or maybe just the childish desire to beat her to it. But the second he touched her lips he couldn't pull back, he could only push forward. When he felt her moan and her tongue, he was lost.

Kathryn felt as though she couldn't contain herself within her skin, let alone this lift. No thoughts were spared on right or wrong. Overwhelmed with the bittersweet sensation, she felt both starved and over stimulated. Deepening the kiss, Kathryn vaguely noted his grip in her hair; his arm looked around her hips, her own fingers tugging relentlessly on his neck. Her world had centered upon the utter abandonment she felt as their tongues twined.

Completely out of control now, Chakotay rubbed himself against her, dying a little from the sheer pleasure that went far beyond arousal. His hand slipped down from her hips, grasped her thigh and lifted her, then wrapped her leg around his waist, opening her and melding into her heat.

They simultaneously pulled apart as each felt the other's heat against their own throbbing desire. Slowly releasing clenched fingers, Kathryn slid down and Chakotay took a step back. Breathing heavily, they simply stared.

It wasn't bravery or mockery; the words simply tumbled out of his mouth:

"Maybe we can blame it on sexual tension. Maybe I need to blame it on this longing I've been battling for five years."

She felt ridiculously elated to hear that he wanted her so much. She knew she needed him, really needed him now. Hell, if it wasn't a problem before, their sexual tension would probably cause a warp core breach now if they tried to ignore this.

"Then maybe we need to redefine our parameters. Maybe I was wrong and you should have pointed that out earlier."

Chakotay soared and cringed at the same time. Everything would change now, and everything that mattered to him depended on this moment.

Kathryn looked into his face with the most beautiful soft expression he'd ever seen.

"Chakotay" she whispered almost reverently.

"Kathryn. Kathryn" he slowly chanted.

Clasping hands, the Captain called for the lift to resume. As the doors opened, the Commander led her slowly and their shared smiles left those in the corridor dumbstruck. Still it was clear, to even Ensign Kim, the command team was finally at peace, all hostilities had ceased.


End file.
